NIKOLAI'S IMAGINARY GUITAR SOLO

Ever since I was a child music has encompassed me. I remember my first moments with a cheap acoustic guitar in my toy bin and realizing that if you played it very quietly it sounded like it was going far away from you, and conversely if you played loud it would sound like it was right in front of you.

This was a momentary, fleeting pass with the learning of music. More wouldn't come until middle school and a wonderful music teacher named Mr. Topfer.

I chose trumpet, as I wanted to be in band but figured the trumpet was loud and only had 3 keys so how hard could it be right? Little did I know how hard ANY brass instrument is to master.

Slowly learning sheet music, and the order of sharps and flats, the instrument grew on me and I eventually graduated to High School and competed in Marching Band.

I actually left the Football team to be on marching band. The crack and bombastic sound of the drum line, and the choreography of the players excited me.

I was never first chair but I played a lot and learned a lot. I still remember my major scale positions on trumpet to this day.

I forgot most of what I learned due to joining The Army and deploying to Iraq as a Combat Medic.

Right before I joined the Army, I asked a friend who played Guitar if I should learn Guitar, because like everyone plays Guitar, and he responded that I should learn Guitar, but that yes, everyone plays Guitar.

So me and my friends went down to the old Guitar Center and I picked up a Fender Acoustic Starter Kit.

Destiny I named her. She was tragically destroyed but I have reclaimed a cheaper Squier Acoustic and dubbed it Destiny II.

I couldn't bring Destiny with me to the service so I would just miss her during long days of pushups and whatnot.

In Iraq there were companies coming and going and I managed to find a guy selling his Washburn black acoustic with snake skin case and cool Guitar Hero stickers all over the case for $50.

I seized the moment and purchased the Guitar and Case and decided to polish up my chords in my off time from mutilated bodies and getting shot at.

That Guitar was also accidentally destroyed in Louisiana when a couch it was leaning on slipped and it came crashing to the floor snapping the neck from the body.

She never even had a name.

I have a thing for destroying Guitars. I know its sacrosanct to some, but done right, in front of a crowd or camera, it just feels so good after hours and weeks, and months, and years of mind numbing practice on an instrument that oddly enough doesn't get enough press.

No more destroying guitars, only practice, only schooling.

Anyway I got out of the Army and got a little check from the VA and SSDI and managed to purchase everything from a Moog DFAM, to a Roland GAIA, to a yellow $1700 Ibanez RG named Bubbles that I proceeded to sell after recording some solos and videos with it.

Buying gear is fun...I'm currently awaiting a custom 8 string black electric, and a 5 watt Hughes & Kettner, but it doesn't scratch the itch that I'm hoping to scratch with your program. Not that I'm itchy or anything.

As the title implies I have a strong affinity for Zappa. All he did, and continues to do.

Somedays it's like Zappa versus Hendrix in my head all day and the older I get the more Zappa I find in my soul.

I believe Jimi was murdered and didn't overdose on his own, through fervent readings and research, but still Jimi represents a very immature yet talented view of music.

I believe Frank Zappa is quoted as saying Jimi needed to go to school for music, and that is where I am in Life.

I have 600 recordings on iTunes and whatnot, I have shot live YouTube videos and covers, and performed countless lonely Open Mic nights, but what I need is a foundation for composing music and making what I hear in my head happen is real life.

Not a billboard #1, not a catchy chorus, but a real understanding of what music is, where it comes from and where it will lead me.

I'm well past 500 words but if you wish to know more about who I am and what I do, reach out to me at 720.291.3216, opiraqivet@gmail.com, as I tell everyone visit nikolaijackson.com.

Everything you could possibly want to know about my life, my music, or my podcast is on there.

nikolaijackson.com

Again that's...

nikolaijackson.com

Ha, look at me shamelessly self advertising in a college interview.

All about exposure as Frank Zappa would say.

My seminal Album is “The Powerlines” available on all streaming platforms.

Don't let my eclectic, busy work music turn you off from trying “Puzzl7” or “First Letter”, if you like Acoustic, or maybe “Tears on The Cement” or “Baghdad at Sunset” for instrumental Vai/Satriani-esque Rock. Or “When I've Been Drinking” for straight forward rock.

I have a few Classical compositions, and even a Rap album!

I would love to attend your school and I am having a little trouble getting 100% of my GI Bill as I am 100% disabled and should get 100% but due to my short time in service I only get 60% approved, which would mean I would have to foot the bill for the other 40% which I might be able to do but it would be a HUGE turn off to me attending your school.

I believe I qualify for the Yellow Ribbon Program and there is also Vocational Rehabilitation, but I would like to speak with your military advisor about contesting my 60% GI Bill for 100% due to my service connected disability.

Red tape I know.

If you need anything, reach out and I will pick up or call back at earliest convenience.

Take care now, bye bye then.

-NAJ